Irish citizenship can be obtained by birth, descent (parent/grandparent born in Ireland), or naturalisation (living in Ireland), with naturalisation usually requiring 5 years of "reckonable residence," reduced to 3 years if married to an Irish citizen or as a refugee, plus proving good character and intent to reside in Ireland. Descent offers a direct path if you have an Irish-born parent or grandparent, while naturalisation involves proving significant lawful residency and integration.
In short, yes, it is possible to obtain Irish citizenship through descent if your great-grandparents were born in Ireland. But there are specific criteria and conditions that you must meet to qualify for Irish citizenship by descent.
If you or your parents were born in Ireland, or if you were adopted in Ireland, you may be an Irish citizen by birth. If you are not entitled to Irish citizenship by birth, you may be able to become an Irish citizen by registering your birth on the Foreign Births Register, or by applying for naturalisation.
These include: Transcripts of the baptism and marriage records of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry to c. 1900. All Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers for Dublin City. All surviving Church of Ireland baptism records.
The person is ordinarily resident outside of the State (or island of Ireland) for a continuous period of 7 years and without reasonable excuse has not during that period registered annually an intention to retain Irish citizenship by filing a Form 5.
Unless at least one parent or an Irish-born grandparent was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, you have no automatic right to Irish citizenship on the basis of extended previous ancestry (that is, ancestors other than your parents or grandparents).
There are two main ways to establish Irish citizenship: through naturalization or ancestry. Establishing citizenship through ancestry is extremely easy. Becoming a citizen through naturalization takes quite a bit longer. Ireland is also one of the easiest countries to get dual citizenship.
How many generations back can you claim Irish citizenship? Irish citizenship by descent has a two-generation limit, meaning individuals born outside Ireland may qualify for Irish citizenship if one of their parents or grandparents was born in Ireland or a parent was an Irish citizen at the time of their birth.
For genealogists whose families came from elsewhere, it may not be possible to trace your family tree back quite as far. Generally speaking (and focusing on paper records, not DNA), many people could reliably trace their trees back to the 17th century.
Adults can apply for naturalisation by completing the Form 8 available on the INIS website. Applications cost €175 and if successful a further €950 must be paid to get your Certificate of Naturalisation. The Minister can waive the €950 fee if you are a declared refugee.
Rights of Irish citizens
You may be applying for citizenship based on marriage to an Irish citizen. You may be applying based on civil partnership with an Irish citizen. To be eligible to apply in both cases, remember: You must be 18 years of age or over.
Anyone born to citizen parents is a citizen of the state at birth. Little to no restrictions apply on how many generations citizenship can be passed down.
They used to live mostly in caravans or mobile homes in which they travelled all over the country or into England. They have Irish surnames – Ward, Connors, Carty, O'Brien, Cash, Coffey, Furey, MacDonagh, Mohan.
Cleary. Supposedly the oldest recorded surname in Ireland, it derives from the Irish surname “Ó Cléirigh” – with Cleirigh meaning “clerk” or “cleric”, hinting that the Clearys of today are descendants of a learned scribe or religious man.
Deirdre, Meadhbh, Sadhbh, Naoise, Oisín, Niamh, Nuala/Fionnuala, Fionnghall (fair stranger), Dubhghall (dark stranger), Gráinne, Rónán, Conal, Tadhg, Cormac, Éadaoin and many more.
The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to 30% of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.
Prof John Portmann was born in Phoenix in Arizona in the summer of 1963. But about 60 years later he found out, via a DNA test, that his ancestry is 100% Irish.
A common concern used to promote the 2004 resolution to end birthright citizenship was that Ireland's birthright citizenship policy was incentivizing “birth tourism.” Since children born in Ireland would automatically be granted citizenship, their parent(s) could jump the immigration/asylum process by being the ...
The reality is, there are no disadvantages of having Irish citizenship! Furthermore, Ireland permits dual citizenship, which means you can acquire Irish citizenship without having to relinquish your present citizenship status.
Ancestry DNA can tell you what regions your ancestors came from and which traits are specific to only you. By comparing DNA samples from all over the world, you can zero in on your family's past, learning where they migrated from, when they moved locations, along with other migration patterns.
The world reach of the Irish passport is approximately 86%. You can access 109 countries without a visa, 55 countries with a visa-on-arrival, and 8 countries on eTA authorisation. Only 26 countries will a UK passport holder need to get a visa.